License plate



Fatented dpr. il?, 23.,

CHESTER. C. DUTY, OF DANVILLE, AND CULLOM WATTERSON COFFEE, F IiDONTICELLO,

KENTUCKY.

` ninemsn rina'rn.`

.application led June 2,

T o all whom t may concern Be it known that we, CHESTER C. Dorr and CUnLoM WA'rrnRsoN Correr, citizens of United States of America, and residents yof Danville, in the county of Boyle and State of Kentucky, and Monticello, in the county of Wayne and. State of Kentucky, respectively, have invented new and useful lmprovements in License Plates, of which the 1o following is a specification.

rllhis invention relates to license plates for automobiles, and has for anobject the provision of a plate which is permanent in its character, in so far as its main construction is concerned; and it is an object of this invention to provide a novel plate which can be used indefinitely or during the existence of the automobile for which 1t'l is purchased, the said device being provided with novel 2u means whereby the year tag or indicia may be applied thereto and secured in place in a manner to insure it against being tampered with by unauthorized persons.-

llt is furthermore an object of this invention to produce a license plate of the character indicated which protects and partially encloses a year plate or card which may be lexposed through apertures in the plate, so that as the color of the year tag is changed, it may be'observed through the openings of the permanent plate. rlhe year tag or plate can be made ot" comparatively inexpensive sheets and need not be of heavy gage metal or other material, so that its cost will be comparatively small as compared with the cost of a new plate. p

llt is a further object of this invention to have a plate which will contain a record ot the name of the automobile for which it is 4@ purchased and on which it is to be used, as well as the number ot the automobile, the capacity in passengers, the motor number, and the modelnumber. The margin of the plate may also be used for carrying indicia such as the county or town denotmg the origin of the owner..

lit is a still further object of this invention to produce a license plate of the character indicated in'which the year plate 0r card 5@ may be readily applied and in which it is secured by a sealed fastening that can be installed by an oiicer with an official sealing stamp, thus making it possible for an observer to" detect whether the aeal has been 1922. seriain. seaaee.

broken or the plate has been tampered with. llt is a ,further object of this invention to produce la plate of the character indicated,

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to theaccompanylng drawings forming part ot this application wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 illustrates a view in elevation of a license plate embodying the invention;

Figure 2 illustrates a top plan view thereof with the seal omitted; f

Figure 3 illustrates a sectional view on the' line 3-3 ot1 Fig. 1;

Figure 4 illustrates a sectional view onv A the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Figure 5 illustrates a view in elevation of the annual plate or card; and

Figure 6 illustrates a f" agment of the rear side of the said plate.

In these drawings 10 denotes the marginal f or frame-like structure of the face plate, provided with suitable slots or aperturesfor receiving astenings b-y which the ,plate is secured to an automobile, the said frame being formed integralwith numerals 12 that are shaped during the stamping of the material, to form the plate and license number. It is to be-understooth'of course, that the numbers will be made different for each plate and these will constitute the main identifying indicia of the plate. ltn addition to the. foregoing, the plate ma be stamped pr pressed to display letters indieating the name of the automobile, as well as its serial number, and other indicia such as the passenger capacity, number as may be desired, and

model and motor` in addition,

till

tot

the name of the town or 'county denoting l the original of the owner may be stampe -por otherwise displayed on the face of the y I late.. p The plate has apertures 13 and 14 tor the reception of apertured ears 15 and 16 rc1 spectivelll of a backing plate 17, which ears project t rough the apertures 13 and 14 as tot stated, and they are intended to receive a wire or other locking device 18 provlded lWith a seal 19 which will prove effective to retain the parts in their assembled relation and indicate if there has been any tampering with the license plate to a degree which will cause fracture of they seal. The back plate is preferably formed integral with the face plate and the plates may be separated a sufficient distance to perm1t the insertion between them of an annual license card o1' plate 20 which may contain indicia indicating the year for which the license plate is tovbe used and the State issuing the said license.

The'back plate has a marginal flange 21 forming a seat for the edges of the annual plate or card, and the said plate or card is provided with slots 22 adapted to coincide with the slots in the main plate through which the ears project, in order that the ears will also project through the annual plate-or card to further guard against the 4indicia being changed.

The relation of. parts is well shown in Fig. 1, and it will also be seen that a very attractive and efficient license plate results and that it carries indicating/matter which would be of use for the authorities in making comparison to determine whether the license plate was being used on the prop er automobile.

A license plate embodyin this invention would practically obviate te likelihood of the transference of plates from one automobile to another, and would in many ways safeguard not only the owner of the automobile, but the State using the said plates.

While the initial cost of the device might be slightly greater than the commonly used license plate, the necessity for renewal of the main portions.I thereof being overcome, the cost in the subsequent years -would more than compensate for the slightly increased initial expenditure.

We claim- 1. A license plate comprising a frame having integral numbers, the plate being cut away to produce the numbers with clear-v ances therebetween, an annual plate back of the first mentioned plate having indicia exposed through the openings produced in forming the numbers, and an element back of the frame for holding the said annual plate, including means for holding the element and plate in assembled relation to each other.

2. A license plate comprisin a frame hav` ing integral numbers, the plte being cut away to produce the numbers with clearances therebetween, an annual plate located back of the first mentioned plate having indicia exposed through openings formed in the first mentioned plate, the sald first mentioned plate having slots, a back plate extending partially across the first mentioned plate, ears on the back plate extending through the apertures of the first mentioned plate, and a seal in the said apertures of the ears.

CHESTER C. DUTY.

CULLOM WATTERSON COFFEY. 

